Trouble for Shell’s Noble Discoverer, 2 weeks after Vigor departure

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

(Photo by Long Bach Nguyen)
That’s a June 27th photograph of the Noble Discoverer, one of two Shell oil-drilling vessels that left Harbor Island’s Vigor Shipyards that day (WSB coverage here) after months of work, headed for a controversial new round of Arctic offshore drilling. A WSB’er has called our attention to a new report of trouble for the ND before it had even reached its destination; as shown in this photo published by the Washington Post, it came very close to shore in Alaska over the weekend. It went adrift off Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians (Coast Guard news release here), where it and the other rig worked on at Vigor, Kulluk, have been waiting; they haven’t made it into the Arctic Ocean because of heavier-than-expected ice, according to this detailed report from an Alaska news organization. Another update says Shell doesn’t think it ran aground; they’re still checking for possible damage.

JAT July 16, 2012 (10:56 am)

I’ll confess to feeling a little Schadenfreude over this story. The concerns of environmentalists were dismissed by many (here) as the prattling of naive hippie throw-backs – that of course arctic oil exploration is safe; nothing could go wrong.

Shell, BP, Exxon, Gazprom, etc – they don’t care about safety or environmental stewardship or climate change and sustainability; they only care about their quarterly reports, stock price and the immediate future of their profit flow.

They can’t even keep their ships at anchor.

Neighbor July 16, 2012 (11:32 am)

I for one, am calling both my senators and leaving a hell of a message for our President who approved this disaster waiting to happen. As for Shell, we need to start one hell of a campaign to inform our neighbors of the very real threat to our country drilling in the Arctic represents.
They can’t even anchor the drill. What makes anyone think they can run the drill in the toughest conditions on Earth? We can’t fix this after it goes bad, game over for the fisheries and game over for the environment.

Boycott Shell, they are choosing profit over common sense and our common heritage.

Thanks for the follow up WSB!

marty July 16, 2012 (11:37 am)

I knew it wouldn’t take long for the know-it-all “tree huggers” to come out. Let’s all move back into caves so we don’t have to risk any possible damage to the planet…

Further Questions July 16, 2012 (1:19 pm)

Moving back to caves shouldn’t be neccessary; eliminating about 90% of the human population would solve most environmental impact issues. Until you’re willing to consider that, yes, we are going to have to be aware of and limit the damage that the human infestation can and does cause.

earth first ed July 16, 2012 (1:31 pm)

I knew it wouldnt take long for the close minded comments, have fun in your cave marty.

Tom July 16, 2012 (1:48 pm)

“Arctic Ocean … heavier-than-expected ice.”

Must be a result of global warming, just like the recent wildfires in Colorado.

WSB July 16, 2012 (2:16 pm)

http://phys.org/news/2012-05-heavy-ice-shell-alaska-arctic.html

Yardvark July 16, 2012 (2:58 pm)

Time to prepare for some “heavier than expected” PR spin from Shell following this failure.

schwaggy July 16, 2012 (3:07 pm)

How is this not run aground?
http://tinyurl.com/d9rzwl9

marty July 16, 2012 (6:17 pm)

earth first ed: I suppose you don’t own a vehicle? Never heat your house? Use products that are shipped by truck, boat, train or plane? Tell us more, you MUST know everything!

Mat July 16, 2012 (9:07 pm)

Marty, it must be hard living around all of these people with such contradicting world views to your own. If you were nicer I might feel bad, but you’ve removed any sympathy with your wonderful comments.

PS: Get off my lawn! }:-O

G July 16, 2012 (9:55 pm)

“Moving back to caves shouldn’t be neccessary; eliminating about 90% of the human population would solve most environmental impact issues. Until you’re willing to consider that, yes, we are going to have to be aware of and limit the damage that the human infestation can and does cause.”

“Human infestation?” This kind of language does not belong in the realm of sane, civil dialogue, it belongs to the realm of psychopathogy.

Mike July 16, 2012 (11:48 pm)

http://www.adn.com/2012/07/14/2542598/shell-drill-ship-drifts-near-shore.html they had to have tugs pull it out… it was stuck
.
http://www.pbase.com/zidar/dutch_harbor_telegraph

resident July 17, 2012 (12:55 am)

“Moving back to caves shouldn’t be neccessary; eliminating about 90% of the human population would solve most environmental impact issues.”

you first.

Further Questions July 17, 2012 (11:29 am)

“you first.”
.
Wishing someone would die for pointing out that gluttony isn’t sustainable. Nice. I hope you don’t have children to pass that kind of hatred on to.

marty July 17, 2012 (11:40 am)

More volunteers? Show your committment!

JAT July 17, 2012 (12:37 pm)

Some people can handle the cognitive dissonance that we live in a modern world which relies on fossil fuels AND that fossil fuel use is globally very destructive and it would be better in the long run if we could end our societal addiction to this cheap energy.

And some people cannot handle the cognitive dissonance and feel that critical thinking about this is hypocritical or just plain stupid.

I suppose there might be a third category, those who feel burning all the oil is great and there’s no downside to that, but I don’t think those people are taken very seriously by anyone anymore.

Sorry, comment time is over.